Hazards of Halloween

by QueenCheetah

It's the night of mischief and mayhem- All Hallow's Eve has come to Domino, and our favorite dueling youths have decided to throw a special party... but will everyone make it through the night? A humorous look at how Ryou and the gang might handle the creepiest holiday.

(A/N: ~This was originally meant to be a 'Holiday Drabble,' but it turned out to be waaaay too long- as you could probably guess, this is definitely my favorite holiday! XD Anyway, Happy [early] Halloween, everyone!).

"The shadow contours look good... but maybe a little more blood under the left eye..."

A pale hand carefully dabbed a soft sponge into the plastic tray. The sponge was promptly covered in a glossy, red gel. The pale teenager began carefully applying the dark-red liquid just beneath his left eye. The theater makeup instantly adhered to his skin, giving it a gory, scarlet sheen.

Ryou Bakura grinned at his own reflection- he was rather proud of his home-made makeup job. He'd decided to dress up for this year's Halloween with his own self-made costume. He'd found several horror tutorials online, and had managed to scrape together a rather interesting garb- a zombie pirate.

The slender duelist smiled wider when he saw the overall effect. His light skin was covered with a faint dusting of whitish-blue and green makeup, with darker streaks along the bones to create the illusion of a gaunt frame. Fake flesh hung from his limbs wherever his 'pirate shirt' was torn. He'd even bought a special makeup 'barrier spray' to ensure that the fake blood on the wounds wouldn't transfer or fade during the party.

"Utterly gruesome!" The white-haired teen was delighted with the results- he always enjoyed creepy effects.

There was a loud noise as the doorbell was repeatedly pressed. 'That must be Marik and Malik.' Ryou knew Bakura probably wouldn't open the door for the two blondes unless he was asked, so he called down the stairs: "Bakura, could you please get the door?"

Even from his spot on the upper landing, Ryou could hear the former spirit's grumbled curses as he slowly made his way to the front door. There was the clicking of several locks being opened (Bakura was insanely adamant on home security) and the irate yami snarled at the visitors: "The f*ck do you want?!"

"Aw, missed you too, Baka-kura!"

There was a slight sound of scuffling, followed by a loud threat from the thief- "Try and hug me again, and I'll stab you through the eye socket with a netjeri!"

Ryou stifled a chuckle as he put away the rest of his homemade makeup supplies. It had barely been six months since the gods had allowed the Pharaoh a second chance at life. The former spirit had eventually accepted, but only on the proviso that the other two dark duelists were given the same offer.

This surprised most of the Yugi-tachi, but Ryou thought he understood. Even in death, Yami was still a very skilled gamer. It was a gracious, yet devious move. A way to help erase the sins of the past, while staying fair and just- and, also ensuring that there were no more unexpected 'returns' from the Shadow Realm.

Being returned to the mortal realm by the Pharaoh's grace left both yami Bakura and yami Marik indebted to the ruler. Though they were still loathe to spend any amount of time together, the trio had managed a rather shaky truce- for now. Ryou had a feeling that the Thief King was just waiting for the former ruler to slip-up. Having been trapped within Bakura's designs left Ryou with a rather unnerving understanding of how the former thief's mind worked. And he knew, newly-revived or not; Bakura would never fully forget what had been done eons before...

With a sigh, Ryou made his way downstairs (rather hurriedly now, as Bakura was undoubtedly growing impatient) to greet their guests and grab his wallet (which was oddly missing). The four duelists had arranged to take a cab to the Kaiba mansion for the party- a bit easier and more practical for them all, seeing how none of them owned a car.

"Good evening, everyone!" The light-haired homeowner cheerfully quipped as he took in his friend's outfits. Yami Marik was dressed as a Catholic priest (Ryou decided not to comment) and Malik was dressed as a- a-

Ryou tilted his head in confusion. "Wait, Malik? Why are you dressed as a regular astronaut? I thought you were going as the first victim from that classic 'Alien' movie?"

"Yes, that was the plan." The amethyst-eyed Egyptian's face suddenly turned sour. "But apparently my spring-loaded costume was too realistic for some people-" here the blonde shot an annoyed look at his taller counterpart, "-and when I tried to test everything out, we ended up with the stuffed alien lying on the floor, massacred in a million pieces!"

"It was very realistic-?" Marik protested hesitantly.

"For $129.95, I would certainly hope so!" The other bronzed duelist frowned. "So, I managed to put this together at the last minute, but it's not nearly as impressive."

Ryou had to stifle a chuckle. Not long after Marik's return, he and his lighter half had settled into a... romantic arrangement, of sorts. Given how much they had in common, it was hardly surprising. And although their personalities sometimes clashed, Ryou thought the two made a decent couple. "You know, you're pretty lucky, Malik."

"Eh?!" The bewildered blonde looked at his friend as though he'd just given birth to his own alien life-form. "You call that lucky?! It took us an hour just to clean everything up!

"Yes, but not many people would charge head-first with their bare hands at an alien life-form just to save someone they care about."

"Oh." A faint flush spread across his dark face as Malik looked at his partner. "Yeah, I guess that's true..."

Marik let out an amused purr and began wrapping his tanned arms around his slighter beau. But they were interrupted by a rather loud cough from Bakura. The former spirit was glaring at them with malice in his eyes.

"If you're going to pull any of that romantic crap, at least do it in the backyard. Ryou gets really peeved if I turn the hose on inside the house." Bakura commented snidely at the two blondes.

"You'd turn a hose on anyone who dares to show some form of affection in front of you?! How pathetic!" Malik snorted, while Marik flipped the thief off (Ryou was still distracted by the search for his missing wallet).

"Oh no, the hose would be just to handle the incidental bloodstains." The former spirit's grin widened to an eerie length. "Of which I can promise there would be many."

"Ok, that's enough talk for now- we need to get ready!" Ryou quickly interrupted the three Egyptians before a fight could break out.

A few days ago, Ryou had mentioned that Mokuba had talked his big brother into letting the Yugi-group hold a small Halloween party at the Kaiba mansion. And at first, Bakura had been pleased- he figured he would have the house to himself for the whole evening. After all, he had no desire to go an alcohol-free party (hosted by that uptight priest, no less). Ryou had tried insisting that it would be fun, but the former thief wasn't persuaded.

"That pretentious string-bean doesn't know the definition of 'fun.' Anyway, I doubt the wealthy fool is going to suddenly pull the giant stick out of his *ss and use it to start a game of 'limbo'."

But then his landlord had gone and burst his bubble by informing him of the darker side of the modern holiday- something Bakura still didn't understand- 'Trick-or-Treating'.

Apparently, countless hordes of tiny brats would be ringing their doorbell non-stop, all evening; just so they could beg for free sugar.

This made the former yami freeze in horror- he always thought the holiday was just about scaring people! But Ryou rarely lied, and a quick internet search brought up countless videos proving that this was, in fact; a real tradition.

Which soon led to Bakura pondering how he could use this knowledge for his own personal amusement. A nasty grin spread across his face as he daydreamed about how best to scare off those greedy little urchins.

But his accursedly saint-like hikari had noticed the twisted look on his face, and had promised a swift and painful retribution following any more phone calls from the Domino Police. And the irritated yami had no choice. He knew what awaited him if he seriously angered his former host.

For some reason last semester, on a whim, Ryou had decided to take a digital art class at Domino High that ended up being very useful.

Useful, and dangerous.

Because Bakura, for all his modern knowledge and prowess, still had one enemy that he had yet to defeat: Photoshop.

Yes, Ryou had promised that with just a few clicks, he could cause the Thief King to become anything he wanted- whether it was flattering, or bordering on black-mail material. The stubborn bandit tried to call his host's obvious bluff... only to be handed a picture of himself in an outfit that he certainly had NEVER worn in his life. He'd rapidly torn up the print-out, only to be informed that his sweet, innocent host had several physical back-up copies hidden around the house- in addition to his computer and storage files, of course.

So now the former spirit was forced to behave somewhat more 'acceptably', or else he knew the damned Pharaoh and those two ground-dwelling idiots would be sent pictures of that... illusion his 'landlord' had nightmared-up.

"Where's the thief's costume?" Marik inquired suddenly, breaking the tomb robber out of his thoughts.

Bakura only scowled. "I'm not dressing up for this crap."

"You can't go to a costume party without a costume! It's in the name, fool!" Malik chided loudly.

Two scarlet eyes narrowed in entrenchment. "I'm not wearing a bloody costume!"

"Look, as horrifying as your face is, you still need something else for it to count as a real 'costume.'" Marik smirked as he playfully pulled on his vicar's collar.

"Piss off, you ignorant ground-dweller!"

"Hmm... it would be nice if you could at least wear something festive, though..." Ryou placed one finger on his chin, thinking aloud to himself. "Hmm... a few years ago... Ah! I think I've got it! Wait here!" The pirate-zombified teen dashed upstairs towards his bedroom. A few moments later he came back down, holding a bag full of what seemed to be cotton fabric.

"I wore this for a school party two years ago- it might be a bit snug, but it should fit!" Ryou began pulling some sort of greenish-blue fabric over his yami's head.

Bakura spluttered and hissed as he was forced into some sort of cloth shirt. "What the-this-!"

It was a pair of teal-green hospital scrubs.

"I have the pants here, too- they should fit, but if they don't, you can probably just wear jeans."

"I'll stick with what I have on." The moody bandit replied tersely.

"Okay, then this should just take a minute- hold on-" Ryou peeled the scrub top off his yami and scurried upstairs with the cloth, leaving the bewildered Egyptians to wait.

This time Ryou took a little longer, but the reason was soon evident. The teal garment was now covered in many very realistic blood-splatters.

The smaller teen grinned as he showed his friends the results. "I found a fake blood recipe online yesterday, so I applied it with a large brush in a splatter-pattern!"

"Very grisly!" Malik nodded in approval. "But where's the accessories?"

"Oh! They should still be in the bag- hang on-" The pale hikari started pulling out various plastic objects, which he proceeded to force onto his somewhat irritated yami. "And here's the fake stethoscope- and the blood-stained gloves- and a few bandages for good measure!"

"..." Bakura was still trying to figure out what sort of strange device was now hanging from his neck. 'The h*ll is a Set's scope?'

"Perfect!" Ryou grinned as he looked over his handiwork. "And to think it cost less than $20!"

Even Malik nodded in approval. "Not bad. Although the face is still too disturbing for my taste."

"Go eat a-!" Bakura started to voice a reply, but Ryou's gasp blocked him from finishing it.

"Oops! Thanks, Malik; I almost forgot- hold still, Bakura; there's one last thing-" Bakura felt his lighter side pulling something over the top of his head. Soon a white mask was covering the lower portion of his face.

There was a soft *snap!* as the yellow elastic was released, completing the look. Ryou carefully guided his dark half over the nearest hallway mirror.

"Ok, now you can look!" The pale costumer looked ecstatic as his counterpart reluctantly opened his eyes. He knew Ryou liked scary things, but he was doubtful that the hikari could actually make someone else look scary...

"Whoa... that's pretty damn creepy!" Marik commented with approval.

Two scarlet orbs widened in surprise at the reflected figure. Bakura had to admit, he looked pretty good. Between the attractively tight scrubs, the mysteriously half-covered face, and the various blood stains- it was a disturbing but sexy costume.

"I present: The Mad Doctor!" Ryou gestured towards the former spirit with a grin. Malik and Marik both clapped, but Ryou was still waiting on Bakura's opinion. He blinked at his quiet housemate. "Er, do you like it?"

He couldn't hide a small smile as he turned to his 'landlord.' "Not bad."

Ryou took the compliment before checking his phone. "Fantastic! Now, the cab should be here any minute- Bakura, have you seen my-" Without a word, the former spirit of the Millennium Ring handed over his landlord's wallet. "-...of course." Ryou decided not to comment on his housemate's continuing kleptomania. "Alright, then I think we're all set!"

Malik and Marik both looked thrilled, but the Thief King just huffed in botheration.

Soon the foreign trio was piled into the back of a taxi (Ryou sat in the passenger's seat, to better guide the driver). Despite some curses and threats, they arrived at the Kaiba mansion without bloodshed.

The four party-goers then made their way up the long drive to the front gates. Ryou started waving as they came across another set of familiar faces.

"Oh, it's Yugi!" The short Game King was soon joined by a very similarly profiled figure. "And Yami!" Apparently they hadn't come alone; soon three other teens came into view, all of them in costume. "Hi Anzu! Honda, Jou! Happy Halloween!"

Ryou took in the other group's costumes as everyone exchanged greetings.

Yugi was carrying a small plastic bag, but otherwise he looked rather adorable- he was dressed as a panda-ninja. His face was covered with black-and-white makeup, and his black gi was complimented by his furry gloves and plastic nunchaku. He even had a small headband with two rounded ears. Ryou suspected the outfit had come from the children's department, but didn't want to embarrass his friend by asking out loud.

Yami was dressed as a 'Tetris' screen (his all black outfit had several neon-colored shapes stuck to the front with velcro). Ryou smiled to himself. 'Ah, of course...'

Yugi had mentioned the other month that Yami had recently discovered the joys of portable 'video gaming.' The re-animated Pharaoh had been thrilled to find that complex strategy games also existed in hand-held, virtual formats. Apparently, he'd been instantly hooked, and had even suggested that the Game Shop would benefit from including its own 'video game' section. Which led to a rather frustrated Grandpa insisting that the 'Game Shop' was a traditional establishment, and would never carry 'those inane electronic devices!'

Anzu was dressed as the mascot of a popular dancing arcade game (Ryou couldn't remember the character's name). Her hair was dyed a temporary purple, and her outfit was a pink-and-teal tunic dress. Honda was dressed as a British police officer, and Jou was dressed as a 50's American 'Greaser'. He had on a black faux-leather jacket and matching boots. His blonde hair was slicked back, and a thin comb was tucked casually behind one ear.

"Hey, long time no see, man!" Jou grinned as he noticed Ryou's outfit. "Whoa, creepy effects there! You do that yourself?"

The modest hikari nodded. "I found some tutorials online. I didn't even have to buy much from the store."

"Pretty crafty." Honda commented as they walked up to the gates. The tall brunette easily pressed the intercom button next to the gates. Mokuba's face soon appeared on the security screen, and he eagerly buzzed the group in. His excited voice also rang out over the security intercom. "Everything's ready, we're meeting in the main living room!"

The small crowd headed to the mansion's front entrance. The giant doors were bluntly devoid of any ornamentation.

"Geez, you think wit' all that money he could afford some decorations." Jou looked over the completely unadorned mansion, evidently unimpressed.

"Kaiba's never struck me as the festive type, but this is just boring." Honda added jokingly. "You'd think he could at least fire a few maids and let some cobwebs build up!"

"Oh, but look at these!" Anzu smiled as they approached the front steps. Sitting on the elaborate stoop of the mansion entryway were three carved pumpkins. The first jack-o-lantern looked a bit like the blue-eyes white dragon in silhouette. The likeness was rough, but recognizable. The other two carvings resembled the 'Enemy Controller' card art and the traditional Kaiba Corp. logo.

"That's really clever." Honda nodded.

Marik was staring at the last pumpkin with interest. "Does Kaiba really like chicken?"

Malik blinked before correcting his other half. "No, that's the logo for the 'Kaiba Corporation-' don't you remember? It was all over the Battle City blimp?"

Ryou sweatdropped along with Jou and Honda. 'Is he thinking of the popular restaurant chain?'

The muscular blonde's face fell. "Oh. So... there's no fried chicken?"

"Kaiba's got a full-time chef, so I'm sure there's food inside." Malik reassured his darker half. "But we can get takeout later if there isn't any chicken, ok?"

Jou raised an arm to knock, but the large doors swung open before he could even try it.

"Good evening." The icy-eyed KaibaCorp CEO gazed over the other duelists. He stepped to one side, allowing everyone to walk into the front hall. "Most of the staff are off for the evening-" Here Jou suddenly looked distraught, "-but we still have basic security. And my personal chef." The blonde's face lit back up, leading to a muffled snort from Honda.

Yugi openly greeted his oldest rival. "Good evening, Kaiba! We were just talking about the pumpkins out front- did Mokuba carve those?"

"Yes; he finished them yesterday." Here the icy-eyed mogul gave a sideways glare at the three yami's, as if to say: 'destroy them, and I will destroy you.'

Yami just sighed while Marik and Bakura tried to cover up their disappointment. They'd both already concocted their own plans for the three orange squash plants.

'Damn... looks like I don't need to steal a ladle from the kitchens tonight. Hmm...' The usual wicked smirk soon came back on Bakura's face. 'Maybe I'll nab one anyway- keep that uptight priest on his toes.'

"So, Kaiba, whatcha wanna start out with?" Jou looked upwards at the taller duelist. "A game? Snacks? A cheesy B-movie?"

The CEO gave a faint huff. "Believe it or not, I have better things to do than hang out with you fraidy-cats. Mokuba is in charge of tonight."

"Hey, who you callin' a 'fraidy-cat'?!" Jou scowled and waved a fist at the mogul.

Kaiba just smirked. "By the way, Mutt; there's a large spider riding on your shoulder."

Jou let out a yelp and began a frantic dance in which he brushed off his entire body. It took him a moment to realize that the billionaire was chuckling as he turned around. "Hey! That's not funny!" The blonde frowned as the wealthy prankster started walking away. "Tch- he thinks he's such a genius."

Seto just snickered as he headed upstairs to his home office. 'What a gullible puppy.'

"Seto's got a lot of work to catch up on, but he said we can do anything we want- just so long as he can't hear it from his office." Mokuba elaborated. "But we've got the 80" 3-D TV, tons of food, and some classic monster movies- sound good?"

The black-haired gamer was greeted with mostly enthusiastic responses (Jou wasn't too sure about the monster movies) and soon everyone was seated comfortably in the giant viewing room downstairs.

The hours passed quickly, with plenty of 'popcorn fights' and jokes. After a few horror films and tons of candy, everyone was hyped up with excess energy.

"We should play a game!" Anzu suggested as they finished the original 'Halloween' film. The other party-goers immediately started to argue (most in favor of 'Duel Monsters', but a few wanted to try something from Kaiba's expansive library of games). Thankfully, Ryou and Yugi had already planned something else ahead of time.

Yugi tapped the 'stop' button on the remote before clearing his throat loudly. "Eh-hem! Attention, everyone! We have an announcement!"

Ryou dug something out of the plastic bag Yugi had brought with. He was now holding what appeared to be several red bandanas. "Yugi and I came up with an outside game for everyone!"

Bakura rolled his eyes- he wasn't in the mood for childish contests. "Count me out."

"Seto's still upstairs." Mokuba added.

Ryou didn't seem deterred. He only nodded in understanding. "Well, whoever who wants to join in is welcome- this is our first time playing this, so we're not sure how it'll work out."

Yugi excitedly explained the premise. "Our game is called 'The Werewolf Hour!' The game starts when the clock strikes midnight, and it lasts for exactly 60 minutes!"

Anzu looked over the scarlet bandanas with interest. "How does it work?"

Yugi grinned and began passing out the bandanas to everyone. "One person is the original 'Werewolf.' They have to wear a red bandana around their neck- that means they were 'bitten.'

Ryou nodded and gestured towards the grounds. "Then, everyone else runs around outside the mansion and tries to avoid the werewolf. The werewolf can 'bite' people by tagging them- if you get caught by the werewolf, you have to put your bandana on your neck, and you also become a werewolf!"

Jou glanced down at the red fabric. "So, how do you win?"

Ryou grinned. "The object of the game is to not get bitten- if you get bitten, you have to try and bite the other players still in play. Anyone who avoids getting tagged before one o'clock is a winner-

"-but if the hour ends with everyone being bitten, then the original werewolf wins!" Yugi finished eagerly.

"What does he win?" Marik asked blankly.

"A lifetime subscription to 'Basset Hounds Quarterly.'" Bakura replied sarcastically from his armchair.

Marik blinked in bewilderment before turning to his lighter side and (not-so-quietly) asking, "Is that a good thing?"

Everyone else sweatdropped, and Ryou awkwardly spoke up. "Eh-hem, there's no 'official' prize; but to keep things interesting, how about the winner (or winners) gets an extra bag of candy to take home?"

That caused several party-goers to perk up- Marik and Jou in particular.

"Everyone will meet back here at one o'clock, and then we'll see who's won- got it?"

"Got it!" The group all headed to the main lobby to set up the game. Honda volunteered to be the 'original' werewolf, and he gave a faint chuckle as he tied the red bandana around his forehead. Yugi and Ryou gave the spirited blonde a three minute-head-start before sending everyone else outside after him. Soon the game was in motion, and everyone scattered across the dimly lit grounds.

It wasn't long before Honda had claimed his first 'victim'- Mokuba had made the mistake of hiding behind a tree that was just a little too thin for his frame. He didn't seem upset, though, and eagerly tied his bandana on his right upper arm before joining 'the hunt'.

But evidently all the sugar and excitement was too much, and by half-past midnight Mokuba was already fast asleep. He'd dozed off while hiding in an 'ambush' position behind one of the mansion's giant front pillars. Yugi soon found the snoozing pre-teen after being 'bitten' himself, but he wasn't sure what to do with him. He didn't want to wake him up, but the kid was almost as tall as he was now!

Thankfully, another 'werewolf' soon passed by, and Yugi quickly got Anzu's attention. She chuckled lightly as she walked up to the two shorter 'werewolves.'

"I guess it's past his bedtime?" Yugi pondered in a quiet voice.

"I think his sugar high just finally wore off." Anzu whispered with a smile. "I'll get Honda to carry him back inside- we've both been 'bitten' so it won't affect the game."

Yugi nodded. "Thanks, Anzu."

The 'bitten' girl scurried off to find the other brunette werewolf. Yugi made his way towards the back of the grounds, trying to avoid the many spotlights and cameras.

Yami had managed to last quite a while, but was finally caught when he saw Yugi and tried to warn him that Honda was nearby- not realizing that his innocent little hikari already had a red cloth around his neck...

Needless to say, the Pharaoh wasn't pleased at having 'lost' a game, but admitted that he would rather lose to his hikari than anyone else.

Meanwhile, Marik had tried his best to hide, but was soon foiled when his priest's robes got snagged on some nasty rosebushes near the edge of the estate. The brawny blonde tugged hard, thinking he could free himself from the thorns with a bit of strength. But this 'plan' backfired, as the flexible branches only whipped back and dug even deeper into his costume. The cursing fiend managed to get himself almost fully entangled, and it took Malik the better half of the hour just to free his partner.

Of course, the tanned yami's yells attracted everyone, and soon he'd been 'bitten' by almost every other player before he was finally freed.

Covered in bloody scratches, the blonde 'priest' looked disappointed as they headed towards the mansion. "I lost..."

Malik tried to console his scratched-up werewolf-priest. "Maybe this is for the best- I don't think Ishizu would appreciate us bringing home more sugar. Remember last time with the muffins?"

"..." Marik didn't comment; instead he just tapped his hikari on the shoulder and said, "Got you."

"Always have, always will." Malik promised as they headed inside to disinfect Marik's scrapes. They both wrapped their red bandanas around their necks, but it was somewhat pointless. The blonde duo ended up waiting out the rest of the game in the living room, where Malik treated Marik's scratches. The bronzed yami managed to hold back a few pained yells, well aware that the younger Kaiba brother was still asleep on the couch. Bakura, who had been wandering the mansion, heard the noises and came to see what had happened. He watched the 'treatment' from a plush armchair. The thief seemed amused by Marik's constant grumbles and stifled curses.

By the time Malik had finished with the first-aid, the game was almost over, so he and Marik waited for the others to gather inside. Gradually, each of the gamers made their way into the living room. It seemed the 'werewolves' had a very effective hunt; with Honda as the 'original', Yugi, Yami, Anzu, Mokuba, and both former tomb keepers had all been 'caught.' Bakura snorted to himself from a corner armchair. 'Even the great Pharaoh failed- but it seems my lighter half is still out there...'

Honda glanced at his LED wristwatch. "It's 12:57- the game should be over in three minutes..."

There was a faint series of footfalls, as the owner of the house joined the worn-out group. Apparently Seto had heard about the game, and came downstairs to see who was declared the winner.

"Well, the game's officially over." Yugi soon proclaimed. Everyone glanced up at the elaborate mantel clock above the fireplace. The large dials were pointing to 1:06- six minutes past the end point.

"But, then where's-" Anzu was interrupted as the front door opened yet again, revealing a wide-eyed blonde with no bandana on his form.

Jou blinked as he stepped inside. "Wow... all of you guys got bitten?" He looked around, noticing that the only un-marked people were those who hadn't participated. "Wait- so it's jus' me?" The amber-eyed blonde pointed to himself in surprise.

"Looks like everyone else was bitten- which means you win. Congrats, Jou." Yami grinned and gave a 'thumbs-up' to the ecstatic blonde.

Jou let out a victory whoop before loudly declaring, "Aw yeah! I'm unstoppable!"

Kaiba just snorted, clearly not impressed. "Figures. You can't turn a dog into a wolf."

"What'd you say, rich boy?!" Jou let out a rather dog-like snarl, leading to many sweatdrops from the other duelists. But as Yugi handed over the bag of 'prize candy' to his friend, Malik noticed something.

"Wait- where's Ryou?" Malik frowned as he quickly counted heads. "I thought he avoided getting bitten as well- has anyone seen him? He should also be declared a winner."

Jou stuck his head out of the over-sized candy bag and frowned in confusion. "I saw him a few minutes into the game, but I lost track after Anzu got turned."

"I saw him by the edge of the front property before I got... cut off." Marik remarked.

'More like cut up.' But for once, the Thief King didn't voice his derisive jest. He felt his own mind drifting towards Malik's query- if the game was over several minutes ago, why wasn't Ryou back? The mild boy wasn't the type to pout or get jealous; even if he hadn't won, he still should've been back around 1:00.

'Something's not right...'

Honda seemed concerned as well. "He should be back by now."

The past Pharaoh immediately set to work organizing a search party. "Then we should go and look for him- Malik, Marik- you two stay here with Mokuba. The rest of us will take flashlights and search the grounds."

Jou glanced to his left and gave his closest friend a quizzical look. "Hey, Yug. Do you think Ryou's pranking us?"

Yugi bit his lower lip, evidently unsure. "I wouldn't think so, but it is Halloween..." the game king trailed off nervously. No one else spoke- it seemed unlikely that the pale hikari was playing a joke.

Yami broke the awkward silence. "We need a plan- where was he last seen?"

"..." No one seemed to have any idea where Ryou could be.

"I saw him at the start of the game- he seemed like he was headed towards the back of the mansion on the left side..." Anzu added.

Yami nodded determinedly as he opened a large side-table drawer in the main lobby. He pulled out several flashlights and dolled them out. "Then we'll start there. Everyone, grab a flashlight and we'll divide the search areas by group."

Soon everyone save Mokuba and the tomb keepers was outside looking for Ryou. Even Seto had joined in (whether from general concern or a fear of being sued was anyone's guess) and they all combed the back of the property.

It was nearly 2 AM, and no one had found heads nor tails of the pirate-zombie duelist. Feeling increasingly anxious, the Thief King decided to take a different approach and split off from the group. He headed towards the Western edge of the grounds, and instantly noticed something the others had not- the dry leaves had slowly formed tiny dew-drops on their upward surfaces over night. There was a faint trail of over-turned leaves, with the dew missing from their tops, leading away from the mansion. The devious yami quickly followed the hidden path. 'Noticing what isn't clear is one of the benefits of being a master thief.' He'd barely traveled five hundred feet when he felt something odd.

'Hmm... the ground in this section feels different. Sounds different too... I wonder...' Bakura began deliberately stomping on the odd Earth. It made an odd echo, almost like something metal was buried beneath the surface. Soon, there was a strange clanking noise from about thirty feet to his right- it almost sounded like something was banging against a large, metal surface.

"Hello?" Bakura turned around as he heard a faint cry echoing from that same area. "-someone there?"

"Ryou? Wha-?" The bewildered thief forced his way through the bushes to find a small glade. A large, metal square was jutting out from the center of the ground. The rusted panel was clearly part of an old security system. The thick hinges indicated some sort of 'safe room' or a trap door.

"Bakura? Is that you?!" The same muffled voice cried out in desperation.

"Yeah, it's me- what the hell happened?! Are you alright? Where are you?!"

The trapped teen sounded extremely relieved. "It's ok; I'm alright, but I'm not sure where I am. I think I fell into some sort of trap- can you ask Kaiba to get me out? I can't find the exit, and the panel I fell through somehowre-locked- I can't open it by myself."

Bakura nodded tensely. "I'll get him." The white-haired yami quickly made his way back to the group, notching the trees he passed with his pocket knife. It wasn't long before he'd found the high-strung priest, who was fortunately able to open the odd 'tunnel room' by unlatching a hidden hinge-joint.

Though he was covered in dirt, and very much chilled, Ryou was otherwise fine. The shaken teen was then led back to the Kaiba mansion by everyone in the (relieved) search party.

Ten minutes later, Ryou was wrapped in a thick blanket, seated on one of the foyer couches while the others surrounded him.

"I got you some hot cocoa!" Yugi explained as he handed a red-colored mug to the seated party-goer.

"Thank you, Yugi." The grateful duelist smiled as the warm liquid soothed his chilled throat. "Ah... that's much appreciated."

"Don't strain your voice." Bakura snapped rather tersely. Everyone but Kaiba looked at him in shock- they'd assumed with their living arrangements, that the Thief King was at least somewhat fond of his hikari.

"Quit acting like an *ss, Bakura! Ryou deserves some sympathy after all that he just went through!" Malik glared as he called out the ever-irate thief.

"Tch- calling me a fool- I'm trying to keep him from getting sick! Not all of us are used to living underground like a bunch of witless worms!" The pale Egyptian hissed at the louder duelist. "He could get a mold infection in his lungs! And Ra only knows what else was down in that rusting hell-hole!"

"Um, Bakura? I really do feel fine- I was just a little cold before, but it's fading-"

"Sicknesses like that don't come on instantly! So be quiet and rest up before you fall ill!" The former spirit of the ring frowned as he ordered his other half to recover.

The estate owner was growing tired of the bickering, and the tall CEO callously interjected. "Haven't you put your twin through much worse yourself? Rather hypocritical for you to be so overly concerned over such a minor incident."

Bakura seemed to bristle over the last three words of the brunette's statement. "This whole 'incident' is your fault! What kind of moron builds a safety room that you cannot escape from?!"

Seto snorted in disdain. "That was not a 'safety room', but a trap meant to deter intruders. It was never designed to open at all, but rather to send out an alarm signal to the main control room of the mansion's security offices."

"Like a rat trap!" Honda added rather tersely. "That's pretty harsh."

The billionaire only shrugged. "Though I admit, after checking with my private officers it seems the signal was never received tonight... perhaps due to lack of upkeep."

Bakura bristled in fury. "You shouldn't put up so many bloody traps around your stupid castle, then!"

Seto shook his head in disbelief. "I did try to de-activate them all for tonight, but sometimes the older ones get overlooked. Believe it or not; as an international business tycoon I do need some security measures."

"Maybe if you weren't such an *sshole, you wouldn't have so many people trying to bleeding kill you!"

"Ya do have a bit of an 'overkill' security system here." Jou pointed out.

Seto snorted. "They're not all my handiwork. Gozaburo was a paranoid wreck. You should've seen this place a decade ago. He had more landmines hidden around this mansion than you can count."

"LANDMINES?!" Jou's face blanched and he nearly passed out.

"Industrial military class-4 vehicle designated landmines, mutt." Seto snorted. "You'd have to weigh as much as a tank to trigger one- IF we didn't already remove them several years ago."

"Oh."

"Of course, there's always the chance we missed one..." The brunette chuckled as the blonde turned pale again.

"He's jokin', right? H-hey, y-you're jokin', right rich boy?!" Jou chased after the still laughing billionaire.

Meanwhile, the other party-goers were all relieved- but exhausted. The duelists exchanged their farewells before slowly trickling out of the mansion and heading home for some (well-deserved) rest. Seto carried his still-sleeping brother upstairs, giving the tomb robber one last glare as if to say, "the silverware's counted." Bakura gave him a nasty sneer in return, but didn't speak. Instead, he only insisted that Ryou sit and rest for a while longer, leaving the pair to wait while Ryou quietly sipped the remains of his hot cocoa. The shy teen gently twirled the mostly-empty mug between his hands as he spoke.

"Um, Bakura?"

"What?"

"...thank you again for finding me."

"Tch." Embarrassed by the praise, the ancient outlaw glanced to one side and scoffed. "You would've made a terrible thief- it's incredible how bad you suck at picking hiding places!"

Ryou tried not to roll his eyes as he reflected on his yami's odd standards. "Not everyone aspires to be a master thief, Bakura."

But the darker half wasn't done teasing his light just yet. "You do realize there's a difference between 'not aspiring' and 'not possible?'"

"Oh hush up!" The hikari playfully interjected, a faint laugh escaping his throat. "Besides, what's the point of trying when you've already claimed the top title?"

"True, true." The ever-so-humble Thief King raised his head and scratched at his chin in a lofty gesture. "Even if you could reach the top of my head, I doubt you could take my crown."

This time Ryou openly rolled his eyes before his face settled into a wry half-smile. "You know... as far as things could've gone tonight... it wasn't half-bad." Bakura made some sort of noncommittal noise, which Ryou knew meant a reluctant agreement. "It was (mostly) fun, and definitely made for some good memories."

This time Bakura rolled his eyes. "I didn't get to shove either of those wretched tomb keepers into that rusted hunk of metal, but sure."

Ryou slowly stood up, carefully placing the empty mug on an ornate coffee table. "Oh, that reminds me- Marik and Malik already left, so I called a cab just for us. We'll need to walk to the nearest intersection, though- are you ready?"

The Thief King smirked. "Definitely." Earlier that evening he'd had a little 'fun' of his own variety. He'd waited until everyone else had left the room at the start of the 'werewolf game', before quietly sneaking over to the closest coat rack. He'd then helped himself to one of the smug billionaire's wallets. Inside the leather fold were five pieces of plastic that he knew were better than physical money. Bakura grinned to himself as he thought of all the ways he could max out the billionaire's credit cards...

Ryou started heading towards the front door, when he suddenly glanced backwards and smirked. "Oh, by the way; I switched the cards out."

"Eh?!" The former spirit was startled by the sudden declaration. "What cards?"

"Just the ones you thought you'd stolen from Kaiba."

"Wha-" The bewildered bandit quickly took the five rectangles out of his pocket and looked them over. Had he, the king of thieves, really been tricked- and by his hikari, no less?!

But sure enough, the cards in his hand weren't real. On closer inspection, they were all very close fakes- only the company logos were either covered by pictures of duel monsters, or else just missing.

"You- wha- how?!"

Ryou winked at his devilish counterpart as he opened the door. "Let's just say I learned more than just Photoshop before you and the other yami's returned." The 'innocent' hikari giggled before heading out into the starry night. "Trick or treat, Bakura."

In spite of himself, the Thief King felt a grin growing across his partly-covered face, and he laughed as he grabbed the same door. "Trick or treat, Ryou."